Pookzilla: Bees Are On The What Now?: January 2005

Monday, January 31, 2005

I had another rough sleep last night and I find myself on the virge of snapping. I've lived my entire life with shit for sleep but these past weeks have been extremely hard on me. I used to appreciate my vivid dreaming but right now I'd kill for a dreamless night. I can't recall last nights dream in any detail but it pertained to me having to wear an extremely short dress without any underwear on. Needless to say it was very upsetting. It wasn't a proper nightmare but it was filled with just enough anxiety to wake me up every 10 minutes or so. When I finally managed to crawl out of bed I had myself a good cry. I really didn't want to get up. I wanted to just lay there with my boy and drive my palms into my eyes.

posted by pookzilla at 5:24 PM - 0 comments

Sunday, January 30, 2005

My keyboard is covered in cat ass.
Sleepy boy

posted by pookzilla at 8:00 PM - 4 comments

Today has been most excellent. I got about 45 minutes of DDR in and I am now able to BASICALLY hold my own at the "Light" level. I've also managed to get some work done that I've been aching to get out of the way for awhile now. I am the API Queen. And yes Aaron... bad me for working on a weekend, I know I know.

posted by pookzilla at 4:25 PM - 0 comments

I've discovered Bloglines, for better or for worse. I've included my monitored list in the left-side bar for the time being to see how well it holds up. I'm always hesitant of includes from another server - they tend to slow down page loading so much. I may just mirror the results locally and refresh it periodically if it gives me grief.

I'm now watching Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I'm having a very hard time seeing Agent Smith in drag. A very, very hard time.

posted by pookzilla at 10:17 AM - 3 comments

Saturday, January 29, 2005

I went shopping today for a laptop bookbag, some speakers for my iPod and the new Nick Cave double CD but came home with a Bad Religion reissue (How Could Hell Be Any Worse?) and some fudge from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Not to be defeated I ordered a bag and some speakers from Best Buy when I got home. I also ordered Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus from Amazon. Expensive day.

posted by pookzilla at 7:27 PM - 0 comments

Friday, January 28, 2005

I've been reading mattress reviews on epinions but I have no idea what to make of them. People either love their mattress or hate it. There is no middle ground. Most of the extreme negative complaints are from people who say their mattress started to sag after an unreasonably short period of time. I've been on a $200 shit mattress for close to 6 years now and it's shown no sign of sagging. My guess is that they're mistreating their mattresses somehow. Bouncy bouncy sex, not turning it as instructed, whatever.

Of the three major brands I know of (Serta, Sealy and Simmons) it seems that Sealy has the best reviews but I don't know if I trust them or not. Blah. How is a person to choose?

posted by pookzilla at 8:27 PM - 2 comments

I went to check out the Tempur-Pedic matresses again. This time I tried laying on it for a longer period of time. I was there for about three minutes marvelling at the feeling when I decided to turn over. I couldn't do it. You sink into the matress so far that turning over is a proper chore and even if/when you finally manage to do it you're very uncomfortable because the previous matress shape sticks for awhile. This, coupled with the fact that the price has increased by ~$350 (to $2350) ohas lead me to decide against the Tempur-Pedic. The matress hunt continues.

posted by pookzilla at 6:07 PM - 0 comments

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Today was a bag of mixed blessings. On the one hand I churned out a crapload of code and got to have some very nice haggis at tea time. On the other hand I had some gross dim sum for lunch and reached a part in Resident Evil that has me shaking like a leaf. I will have nightmares tonight. It hit a special panic button I wasn't aware I possessed. Guh.

posted by pookzilla at 6:59 PM - 0 comments

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

I crammed all day and finally managed to get my EclipseCon talk done. Phew. I've passed it around for review but otherwise this should be it. Thank goodness.

And now I sleep.

posted by pookzilla at 4:51 PM - 1 comment

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

I just had the most unsettling observation pop into my head. I'm not sure why I'm even writing it.

I was massasging my cat (as all good pet humans are trained to do) while he was laying on his side. I was working his belly and upper chest, the areas he most often enjoys. It occured to me that his stomach felt a lot like the breast of a woman. It has the same shape and similar density. Just with fur. A breast with fur.

If you feel dirty and unclean now you are not alone.

posted by pookzilla at 8:28 PM - 4 comments

My finger is hovering over a button. The button is in my browser. My browser is pointed at a website. The website is called store.apple.com. This place, this store.apple.com, sells Mac Minis.

My resolve, it weakens. My desktop is on its very last legs... it WILL need replacing, and soon...

posted by pookzilla at 7:30 PM - 3 comments

Monday, January 24, 2005

I have a feeling that says today will never end. I'm trying to get one last bit of work done but my machine is fighting me at every turn. This cannot wait until tomorrow. Yargh.

Edit: Holy fucking hassle Batman.

posted by pookzilla at 6:34 PM - 1 comment

Sunday, January 23, 2005

I played Katamari Damacy today. Digital. Crack. Cocaine. They need to port that little gem to the GameCube because there is no way I'm buying a third system at this time.

posted by pookzilla at 8:30 PM - 7 comments

More dreadful sleep last night. My throat was very sore and I woke up coughing a bunch of times. I think I must've caught a chill when I was out yesterday. I think I'm going to sleep the day away. The alternative will involve biting peoples heads off and crying.

posted by pookzilla at 8:33 AM - 0 comments

Saturday, January 22, 2005

K and I got to see Sarah today. We went for breakfast with her at Cora's downtown. It was great to see her again. She had many stories to tell of Thailand and a good time was had by all. I really missed her. She treats me very well.

After leaving her we went into the mall where I bought two new pairs of jeans at Bluenotes and new printer ink. I feel absolutely disgusted with the printer ink. It cost me $125. I don't think the printer cost that much. I can't believe the printer companies are legally allowed to bend you over and give it to you like they do when to comes to ink. It's deplorable. Next time I'm just going to buy a new printer. Given that the damn things are made to break in about 6 months it's probably a far more sensible idea.

I arrived home to find that Sympatico was down. It stayed down for many hours and because of that I was able to get some quality Resident Evil time in. I'm 10 hours into it and I'm not on the second disc yet. This game is a beast.

posted by pookzilla at 8:56 PM - 3 comments

I was feeling masochistic this morning so I decided to watch the MuchMusic Countdown. God. I am so sick of pop-punk bullshit. A Simple Plan, Sum 41, Billy Talent... STOP FUCKING WITH THE REPUTATION OF MY FAVOURITE GENRE! You are Britney Spears with guitars and tattoos. The angst you spew still has the reek of the factory it was shat from all over it. Please... Just stop.

posted by pookzilla at 7:16 AM - 3 comments

Friday, January 21, 2005

I hate leaving work on Friday with a tricky problem unsolved but that's just what I did today. Blech. I'm going to be dwelling on it all weekend. Tricky, tricky threads.

posted by pookzilla at 6:33 PM - 0 comments

Thursday, January 20, 2005

My lunch is waging a fierce battle with my intestines. My lunch is winning. Kafta sandwich? Never again. In fact, I think I'm going to start bringing my lunch to work again. If I get food poisoning I can only kick my own ass.

posted by pookzilla at 9:31 PM - 2 comments

Sarah has returned! I am overjoyed! Time for more ink!

posted by pookzilla at 5:49 PM - 0 comments

For any nerds out there I give you one of the questions we've been asking in interviews:

You have 100 bits to work with. Calculate all prime numbers between 1 and 100 using only addition. What is the Big-O complexity of your solution?

Now where the hell are my pants?

posted by pookzilla at 7:06 AM - 4 comments

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

I've made it through several more segments of Resident Evil. I've beat the village leader (hard), taken down the careening truck full of villagers (surprisingly hard but I can only blame myself... stupid nerves), escaped to the castle (easy), blew down the gate (not TOO hard), fought the blind psycho slasher (hard and very unnerving) and faced the onslaught of monks (HOLY SHIT). I am constantly amazed at the number of truely memorable moments in this game. There are so many I can think back on and think "wow, I want to do that again!"

posted by pookzilla at 8:43 PM - 0 comments

I need to get this sleeping bullshit under control. I can't function like this.

posted by pookzilla at 7:06 AM - 0 comments

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

It reached -45C today with windchill. It was a hellish walk to work. The condensation from my breathing formed a very firm layer of ice on my glasses. I had a .5" slit above my eyes and below my toque from which I could see reliably.

I can't fathom how people lived here before electricity.

posted by pookzilla at 4:49 PM - 4 comments

Monday, January 17, 2005

I came across an excellent parody of "Modern Major-General" via a comment on MetaFilter today : "I Am a Famous Model and a Media Celebrity". Lyrics here, MP3/stream here. The lyrics are great but the delivery in the audio is a bit off. I don't know how anyone can sing it or the original without cracking or screwing up.

posted by pookzilla at 5:46 PM - 0 comments

Another horrible dream-riddled sleep greets me this morning. I'm exhausted. The temperature is floating around -2395977235C today so I'm not looking forward to the walk to work. I may cave in and take the bus. It wont eliminate the walking but it will cut it by 2/3.

posted by pookzilla at 7:05 AM - 2 comments

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Delving into RE just before bed was a really stupid idea. I happened upon an extremely freakish boss in an overly cramped environment that pushed my heartrate way to high. He kicked my ass in short order.

I'm now watching a Poirot movie (that for some reason doesn't have an IMDB record - "The ABC Murders") in an attempt to calm down before I head to sleep. I don't need excessive dreaming tonight.

posted by pookzilla at 9:02 PM - 0 comments

You are .inf You are informative. When you are gone you make life very difficult for others.

Which File Extension are You?

posted by pookzilla at 4:35 PM - 3 comments

I've been a hyperactive freak today. I cleaned the toilet and sink, reorganized my bookshelfs, strung my xbox live cable such that it wasn't across my living room floor and I dusted EVERYTHING. The dining room table is usable for eating again. I ran the lint brush over the cats ottoman for 5 minutes. I then swiffered him briefly. I installed my cat lightswitch covers. You get the idea.

I've been thinking of ways to reorganize my living room. I'm going to pop into Ikea after work sometime this week and look for suitable loveseats and coffee tables. I will then be set up for guests. Now all I need are the guests.

posted by pookzilla at 3:03 PM - 5 comments

I just had the worst sleep that I can remember having since I was 18 years old. The dreaming would not stop. It was constant and the detail was excruitating. I think I was asleep for close to 13 hours. I feel absolutely horrible. I'd like to know what was responsible for this.

posted by pookzilla at 9:14 AM - 0 comments

Saturday, January 15, 2005

I beat the zombie farmhouse after two more attempts. I think that was the most satisfying video game experience of my life. My winning strategy was to upgrade the maximum capacity and reload speeds for my shotgun and my 9mm and then ensure that I aimed low as to avoid headshots. When the going got rough I was sure to lob a flash grenade and move to a better position.

If I smoked this would be a great time to light one.

Also, the call of the Mac Mini grows ever stronger. I must resist.

posted by pookzilla at 5:21 PM - 5 comments

Friday, January 14, 2005

I've reached an incredibly difficult and yet incredibly satisfying part of Resident Evil. It's the scenario I always love to be in - backed into a corner facing waves and waves of enemies. I am the hopeless underdog in the meat grinder. I'm in a farmhouse surrounded by villagers intent on my death and the death of the Presidents daughter. I stuff her in a cabinet and then proceed to secure the windows and doors by pushing furnature in front of them. I then wait for the onslaught. They come through the groundfloor, they come through the second floor, they're everywhere and they're carrying fire and blades and pokey implements. And sadly, because of some recent in-game revelations, I can no longer do headshots. Headshots mean very bad news. Headshots mean Lovecraftian-style horrors. So I take out their legs. Or try to.

I've played the stage 3 times without success although I'm getting progressivly better. My pulse is racing so I'm going to give it a rest for awhile. I am so thoroughly impressed with this game.

posted by pookzilla at 7:12 PM - 0 comments

My mood was increasingly sour this morning until the afternoon rolled around. A heaping pile of garlic butter and some kind words will go a long way to perk you up.

posted by pookzilla at 5:40 PM - 0 comments

I can't sleep. I've been dreaming and I woke up realizing my boy was not sleeping at my feet as I've become accustomed to. I went looking for him and found him sleeping on his ottoman. Yes, my cat has his own ottoman. I gave him a little scritch on the head and I think I've managed to lure him back to bed. He's sitting in my bedroom doorway looking at me as if to say "if I come over there you'll scratch my ears some more right?"

There is precious little on TV at this time of the day. Thankfully poker is on TSN. Poker is always fun to watch for some reason.

posted by pookzilla at 1:03 AM - 0 comments

Thursday, January 13, 2005

I can't remember the last time I felt as depressed as I do right now. I ache with it. Arthritis of the heart or some such rot.

posted by pookzilla at 5:08 PM - 1 comment

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Kim Tip #1215: If you have to shoot either the villager with the chainsaw or the villager without the chainsaw shoot the one with the chainsaw. If given an option, lob an incendiary grenade at the pair of them and duck.

posted by pookzilla at 6:54 PM - 0 comments

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Also: me want. Talk about a sexy beast...

posted by pookzilla at 8:20 PM - 0 comments

I picked up Resident Evil 4 today while I was at Bayshore. I just played it for 2 hours. I was screaming out loud at points. I was squriming in my chair and clinching my eyes shut. Thats the sign of a well crafted game.

First thing, there are no zombies. There are people that have all of the endurance of zombies but have disquiting pack behaviour and are armed with nasty blades. They tend to surround you before you know what's going on. In one particular point I was backed behind a barn with them coming in from all sides. I took out the closest one with a head shot - her head just exploded into a puff of blood and bone. I think "ok, next target"...but...

... her headless body grabbed me and tried to tear my limbs off!

That scene will visit my dreams tonight. If you can't take out a zombie-like thing with a headshot what CAN you rely on?

The camera angle really helps to put you on the edge of your seat. The camera is positioned above and to the right of your shoulder so that unlike in previous RE games you can't just walk into a room and get a sense of where the danger will come from. Unlike most games that are either first person or close to it you get a decent field of view - the game is widescreen even on standard televisions.

In addition to the scares, the graphics and sound are excellent. I think this is the prettiest game I've seen on any of the three current generation consoles. The only one I can think that might give it a run for its money is the Riddick game for xbox.

posted by pookzilla at 7:11 PM - 0 comments

Monday, January 10, 2005

Mess with your face! [As nicked from MetaFilter]

This is so amazing. Here are some choice results from my facial transform. Clockwise starting with the top left: hyper-feminized, Botticelli filter, old me, and masculine me. Old me is a dead ringer for my mom.

posted by pookzilla at 7:07 PM - 3 comments

I finished 10 slides for my EclipseCon presentation today. I am very happy. I should have them all finished either tomorrow or the next day. I'm going to go through a dry run of the presentation with myself and a mirror soon after that. I alternate between feeling I wont be able to stretch it out for 40 minutes and feeling I wont be able to condense it to 40 minutes. The later worry probably has more merit as there really is quite a bit of material to work with. I could probably do a 40 minute talk on goofy hacks that you can do with the system alone.

posted by pookzilla at 6:08 PM - 0 comments

I don't think I could move any slower even if my feet were nailed to the floor. I'm going to have to fetch a chai on the way to work to perk me up. Ugh.

posted by pookzilla at 7:00 AM - 0 comments

Sunday, January 09, 2005

After 4 minutes of football the Vikings are up 14-0 over my Packers. I can't watch. I feel ill.

Edit: Green Bay lost. Do I slit my wrists or overdose? Perhaps I should just get over it.

posted by pookzilla at 4:53 PM - 8 comments

I planned on doing all kinds of work today but I just can't be arsed. I was out shopping for groceries all morning. When we finally finished getting everything we needed we ended up waiting almost 40 minutes for a cab. I find myself in a very sour mood and I just don't feel like doing anything other than sitting and glaring at my television. Humbug.

In other news my DVD towers are about 8 DVDs away from capacity. I need to swing by Ikea some day and pick up another one. I understand that it will be warmer later this week so perhaps I'll do it then. I don't much feel like carrying one on slippery footing and a few days of warmer weather should clear that up.

posted by pookzilla at 2:05 PM - 0 comments

Saturday, January 08, 2005

I dreamed that I was pregnant last night. It was wonderful. I don't recall who the father was. I'm not sure he was in the dream at all. Everyone was so excited for me and so was I. It was going well until I saw my mother. She was not impressed. In fact, she was more ashamed of me than ever. The idea of a little me running around disgusted her and she didn't bother hiding it.

I've known since I was a teenager that I can't have kids. When I was younger that didn't bother me but now that I'm getting older it does. I find work particularly hard for me lately. It's as if the entire place is married and either has kids or has one on the way. I am the odd one out in a big way. I would really love to have a family but there are so many obstacles...

posted by pookzilla at 3:34 PM - 2 comments

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

posted by pookzilla at 8:16 AM - 5 comments

Friday, January 07, 2005

My code-fu was strong today. I churned out a helluva lot and I am pleased.

I am now relaxing in my PJs and trying to decide if I want to do anything tonight other than veg out. It's been a long week so I suspect I'll veg out. I'm going for pho with K tomorrow so there's no rush to do anything interesting tonight.

posted by pookzilla at 5:28 PM - 1 comment

Thursday, January 06, 2005

My wrist is a bit swollen from the fall yesterday and my entire arm hurts right up to the shoulder. Blah. I guess I did a real number on the muscles.

I still hate winter.

posted by pookzilla at 7:41 AM - 3 comments

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Let me reiterate: I hate winter.

posted by pookzilla at 9:40 PM - 0 comments

I fell on the way to work today. I was coming down the hill by the church near work when my footing whipped out from under me. I panicked, and twisted to the side in an attempt to save my laptop. I did save my laptop but I landed palm-first on my wrist. The pain was intense. For a brief moment I thought I had finally managed to break a bone after a quarter of a century without. When the shock wore off I tried moving it and found I could. I didn't break anything after all.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter? Because I do hate it very much.

posted by pookzilla at 5:16 PM - 2 comments

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Memo to Aaron:

Stop calling me "big boobs" or I will mail a pair of underwear stained with chocolate to your father. You've been warned. :)

posted by pookzilla at 7:18 PM - 7 comments

I've managed to pull a muscle in my chest. I think it happened during my sleep last night because I vaguely remember waking up with a sharp pain. I may have been screaming at the time. Oh well. As long as I don't turn my head to the right it isn't so bad.

My Gilbert and Sullivan set arrived today. I've already listened to both HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance. Both are excellent recordings although I think I prefer the quality on Pinafore. I feel the volumn is just a bit more consistant as I had to adjust the volumn up and down a few times with Pirates. I'll see about putting some auto adjustments into my iTunes profiles.

posted by pookzilla at 6:08 PM - 0 comments

Monday, January 03, 2005

What a busy day. I was out shopping for the majority of the day where I bought 3 overpriced but extremely cute t-shirts. One has the Good Luck Bear from the Care Bears. Another simply reads Smarty Pants. The final one has a picture of a scared little boy with the caption "Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them." I'll probably only wear the last one when I want to send a message at work. Tonight I went to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so damned quirky. Bill Murray is still a comedic god. I should really be sleeping now.

posted by pookzilla at 9:56 PM - 4 comments

Sunday, January 02, 2005

I came across this old thread on MetaFilter that has got me thinking about my apartment. It is not a home. It is a functional cave in which I live. I've put no effort into making it livable or inviting. Perhaps it's because I've never felt there's anyone who'd want to be in it. I don't know. At any rate, it's an absolute disgrace. It's empty of any character or consideration. It's enough to get by. In that way it's an accurate refection of my current emotional/mental state. This has got to change.

posted by pookzilla at 7:44 PM - 2 comments

I am laying in bed with the boy, watching lightning (sans thunder) flash outside my window. It's so weird to see lightning when it's snowing. The sky is already one diffused blob of white light to begin with so the lightning flashses cover the entire field of your vision.

Tomorrow is my last day of vacation. I am determined to go out and do something. I will fetch cat food from the vet. I will treat myself to lunch. I will go shopping. I will NOT just sit at home and stink.

posted by pookzilla at 3:22 PM - 0 comments

Saturday, January 01, 2005

I'm up to 81 stars in Mario DS. This means I can finally go for the final fight with Bowser. I think I'm going to try and get the other 69 stars before going after the Koopa King, however. I need to stretch out the enjoyment of this game as there isn't anything interesting coming out for the DS anytime soon.